Bad allergies this season? Here's why

Warm winter, dry weather cause bad allergy season

It seems to get worse and arrive earlier each year. Allergy season has people across Central Florida reaching for the tissues and popping all kinds of pills.

According to First Alert Meteorologist Jason Brewer, who also suffers from allergies, we can thank Mother Nature. We had a warm winter, and some flowers have been blooming since January.

"We had a warm January, one of the warmest Januarys on record. We typically see freezes in January that typically help suppress the pollen down the road. We didn't have that this year," said Brewer.

Florida Hospital's Centre Care, which has 20 locations in Central Florida, have noticed an increase in patients suffering from allergies. They have seen 130 for the last week in March and 160 for the first week in April.

"You forget from year to year how bad spring can be. We are seeing a lot of patients with allergy symptoms right now, runny nose, cough, sneezes. The complications from allergies, sinus infections, ear infections," said Centra Care Dr. Tim Hendrix.

We count on the rain to beat the pollen down, but we haven't had much of that either.

The pollen index remains high for this week.

Doctors recommend you take a non-drowsy antihistamine, such as Allegra, Zyrtec or Claritin, but first check with your doctor.